Newton's Second Law - Air Track
| Abstract | A small fan accelerates and decelerates a cart on an air track. |
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| Portable | Yes | |
| Principles Illustrated | Newton's Second Law with a fairly constant force from a small, battery powered fan. |
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| NCEA & Science Curriculum | ||
| Teacher Guide |
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| Instructions | Set cart in motion by turning on the fan and observe. Note that the cart must be balanced. If an extra mass is placed at one end of the cart then the cart will sit on the track at an angle. This can cause a quite noticeable net force on the cart, accelerating it with the heavy end forward as the angled cart forces air backward. In this picture a fan has been added to the right end of the cart and a balancing mass has been added to the back end of the cart.
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| Credits |
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